RUSSIA tried to cover up its deadly missile hit on a passenger plane by jamming its navigation systems, it was claimed yesterday.

The move was to drive the stricken Azerbaijan Airlines flight away from Russian territory, hoping it would crash in the sea to thwart efforts to find what brought it down.

Flight 8243 had also been refused permission to land at the Russian cities of Nalchik, Vladikavkaz, and Makhachkala.

With its systems jammed, sources say it had to limp 280 miles across the Caspian Sea before crashing in Kazakhstan, exploding into a fireball and killing 38 of the 67 on board.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s Baku to Grozny in Chechnya on Christmas Day, when reportedly targeted by Vladimir Putin’s air defences on high alert for Ukrainian drones.

Flight data shows the Embraer jet began transmitting its position again only two hours later — just before it crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan.

The 29 survivors, sitting mainly in the rear, were pulled from the wreckage. Several remain critically injured in hospital.

Flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov, believed to be wounded by shrapnel during the attack, last night said the pilot tried a sea landing before the crash but abandoned the attempt.

He added: “When we hit the ground, I thought we were already dead.”

The Russian civil aviation authority claims the crash was probably caused by a bird strike.

But Azerbaijani officials have ­confirmed a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system struck the aircraft.

Kazakhstan says it will carry out an investigation, aided by Azerbaijan, but will not cooperate with ­Russia.

The US last night offered to help with the investigation.